At the end of last week, I got the sort of text we’re all dreading right now: The parent of a kid in my son’s carpool had tested positive for COVID-19. After privately freaking out, I emailed the family asking if they would please let us know the test results …
Read More »
Last fall, Steve Harkins was conducting a routine check on a shipment of records and CDs at Ingram Entertainment, a wholesale music distributor headquartered in Tennessee. Instead of vinyl, though, Harkins was amused to find that Ingram’s supplier had sent a pallet packed with bottles of windshield-wiper fluid. “I called …
Read More »
In November 2019, Ariana Grande posted a photo with Bernie Sanders, exclaiming “MY GUY,” while telling her fans that she promised to “never smile this hard again.” Just like that, the most important part of the 2020 Democratic race had officially begun: the musicians’ primary. Some stars have performed at …
Read More »
Pearl Jam will release their 11th album, Gigaton, on March 27th. It’s their first album of new material since 2013’s Lightning Bolt, marking the longest period of time they’ve ever gone between albums. Leadoff single “Dance of the Clairvoyants” will be released in the coming weeks. “Making this record was …
Read More »
This post contains spoilers for the first episode of The Mandalorian, which is now available on Disney+. Early in The Mandalorian, the Star Wars series’ title character — a laconic bounty hunter, hidden under armor similar to Boba Fett’s — is offered a state-of-the-art land speeder to drive him and …
Read More »
“Gimme that butt!” Big Boi bellows from behind the mixing board of his famed Atlanta studio, Stankonia. The call for butts is addressed to Hootie Hoo, a sleepy Eurasian eagle-owl perched next to him. Along with Hoodini, Simon, and Tula, Hootie is one of four pet owls the rapper lets …
Read More »
In this first installment of our two-part deep dive into the history and influence of King Crimson‘s “21st Century Schizoid Man,” the band’s co-founders look back on the writing of the iconic song, and contemporaries recount its initial impact onstage and on LP. To read the second part — which …
Read More »
Fifty years ago today, on August 8th, 1969, the Beatles walked back and forth across a street they knew well: Abbey Road. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr lined up and crossed a few times, while a cop held up traffic, right outside the studio where they …
Read More »
Kanye West‘s choir put an uplifting, Christian spin on two Nirvana songs, “Come As You Are” and “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” at the rapper’s most recent Sunday Service performance. In a video, the choir stands in a circle and sings the Nevermindtracks while decked out in white. “Just confess/ he’ll …
Read More »
Everything money can buy — including the vocal talents of Beyoncé and Donald Glover and the latest in digital pizazz — has been poured into Jon Favreau’s photo-realistic retake on The Lion King, the 1994 Disney animated classic. What’s missing? Let’s start with intangibles such as heart, soul and the …
Read More »